Salford University physicists to develop highly-efficient perovskite photovoltaics

Working with 12 international partners, the €5m CHEOPS (Cost and Highly Efficient phOtovoltaic Perovskite Solar cells) project aims to upscale initial trials of the technology to industrial and commercial levels.

According to Salford University, perovskite photovoltaics are a novel class of materials, commonly a hybrid organic-inorganic lead or tin halide-based material, with a crystal structure that makes it possible to fabricate extremely efficient solar cells in a simple manner and at potentially low manufacturing costs.

Dr Heather Yates, principal investigator for the Salford CHEOPS project said: “As researchers, we may get excited when we achieve a new efficiency record with a small cell of about 1cm2 but to prove this technology we need modules of at least 15cm2 and we need them to be stable.

“At Salford we will be employing a technique called Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Vapour Deposition to produce large-scale thin films which make up the perovskite cell. We will also consider how to produce films using tools, techniques and procedures that can readily be implemented in an industrial environment.”